I came across this book by chance and, after reading the summary, was intrigued. An Old Hollywood setting? A mysterious inheritance? A discussion of race and fame and family? I was in! Unfortunately, I didn't feel like I could give this book more than 3 stars because a lot of Paul's writing seemed stiff and relied on telling over showing. On top of that, the present-day story just wasn't as interesting as I hoped, so while there were things I liked about this book, it was ultimately a middling read for me.

WRITING: Paul's writing had a number of features that I just personally didn't find enjoyable. For example, the author has a habit of telling rather than showing, which means a lot of emotions are buried under blunt, straightforward exposition. We're told how Kitty is feeling, for example, and we're told that she loves movies and stories growing up; I would have loved to see more scenes where we could experience these emotions along with the character. Related to this is the feeling that Paul over-explains things that the reader can either infer or could have been replaced by a "showing" scene; I just constantly felt like I was expected to absorb a lot of things but never was trusted to interpret them by just reading the story alone.

Also, the dialogue felt a little stiff, which made for some awkward conversations. There are stretches within a scene when characters will have a lot of back and forth, giving the feeling that they are at an interview or playing 20 questions or something. I would have liked these exchanges to be broken up for an enhanced flow.

Related to these points is the fact that Paul tended to use a lot of filter words and phrases, such as "Kitty wondered" or "Kitty wanted." While not "wrong" or "bad," the overuse of these types of phrases made me feel like I was being kept apart from the characters and not invited to feel with them.

PLOT: The plot of this book follows two timelines: in the present, Black actress Elise St. John is dealing with the publicity of inheriting millions of dollars from Kitty Karr, a White actress who gained popularity in the 1950s and 1960s. In the past, we see Kitty's life unfold from her childhood in North Carolina to her eventually move to LA during the Jim Crow/segregation era.

The parts of this story I liked best were moments in Kitty's timeline when Kitty grappled with her racial status. We learn pretty early on that Kitty is a mixed race woman who can pass as white, and she struggles with finding her place in a world where neither the white or black communities will fully embrace her. Kitty's struggles were refreshingly honest and shed a light on a lot of complicated feelings, from wanting to be part of the black community to hating how black lives are made more difficult to feeling guilty for being able to access white privilege. The way Kitty sees Jim Crow as both oppressor and tool was also interesting, and her constant fear of being discovered raised the stakes of her story.

I also liked that Kitty was able to build her own little community of people who passed and that they all offered different perspectives on race and racism. Lillian's jealousy, for example, threw a dark shadow over passing and hinted at some internalized racism. Lucy's story was complex in that she used her privilege to help people, but that help often came with strings. It was all very compelling and made me think more about the multitude of experiences people have and how passing is tied to privilege so long as the person denies a huge part of their identity.

But even with all the good, some things didn't quite work for me. One was that Paul had the tendency to just summarize things that would have been great to have "on screen." For example, we're told that Kitty becomes famous, but we don't really experience the rush of fame along with her - we just get a summary. This kind of thing happens multiple times in the book, and I wonder if Paul was just trying to fit too much into her novel or else was focusing on the wrong things.

Also (and I hate to say it), but I just was not interested in Elise's storyline. Every time we were in the present, it felt like there was very little to keep me invested (at least until closer to the end). I didn't much care to know why Elise inherited Kitty's money because it seemed that Elise had a plausible explanation from the get go. Elise was also already famous, so Kitty's inheritance didn't feel that shocking, and we don't really see Elise digging through Kitty's things and piecing together her story. I do appreciate that Paul tries to explore what it means to be a Black celebrity, but personally, I didn't find that meditation compelling enough because it didn't dive as deeply or parallel as closely to Kitty's story to feel meaningful.

CHARACTERS: Kitty, one of our protagonists, is incredibly interesting in that she's a black woman passing as white during the Jim Crow era. Her story shed a lot of light on race and privilege while also grappling with identity and personal fulfillment. The only thing I wish was different was the portrayal of Kitty's worrying and acting; though they are big parts of her life, we don't really get to see Kitty in action or experience the emotions she feels when at her best. I guess part of the book is supposed to be about how black women can be at the upper echelons of society despite white people hindering them, but I wanted to know if it was all about celebrity and power or if there was something special about the movies and stories that resonated with Kitty.

Elise, our present-day protagonist, had a lot of things going for her that could have been interesting. I liked that she had a complex relationship with her family members and often reminded readers that while she was a celebrity, she was also black (and thus subject to racism). But to be honest, I didn't care much about her cheating fiancé or her developing relationship with the photographer. I also think they're just want enough suspense in her storyline, so perhaps I would have liked her better if she had more to do.

Supporting characters were fine, and a lot of them were complex and compelling. I appreciated Hazel (Kitty's mother) and thought her relationship with the Lakes family was interesting. Lilian was also interesting in that her goals and attitudes about passing challenged some of Kitty's. The women of Blair House were admirable and I fully wanted them to succeed. I guess the only criticism I have is that because there is a lot of telling, it can be difficult to feel emotionally invested in the characters even if I would otherwise enjoy them.

TL;DR: Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? is a book with a powerful discussion about race and privilege but ultimately fails to resonate due to the writing style. Because the author relies on telling over showing, readers are kept at arm's length from the story, expected to absorb it from a distance rather than being invited to experience it with the characters.